The UFC women's bantamweight division is UFC 334's biggest loser
UFC 334 marked the first time that Kayla Harrison successfully defended her women's bantamweight title, beating the great Amanda Nunes with a fourth-round submission. While 'The Lioness' will return to her den and lick her wounds, she isn't even the biggest loser of the night.
UFC 334 was the stage for one of the most significant moments in Kayla Harrison's career. Not only did she successfully defend her women's bantamweight title, but she also defeated Amanda Nunes, the greatest women's fighter of all time. Unfortunately, her win was to the detriment of the 135-pound division, especially with all signs pointing to Harrison either retiring or moving to women's featherweight, if the UFC is open to it, which, based on Dana White's comments at the post-fight presser, is possible.
The UFC women's bantamweight division is directionless
As impressive as Kayla Harrison beating Amanda Nunes, the WMMA GOAT, was, it comes at the cost of the UFC women's bantamweight division. Though the alternative outcome wouldn't have been much better either, because it would have meant that nearly four years after Nunes' initial retirement, the division still hasn't moved on from her and that even a 38-year-old version of her, with cage rust, remains better than everyone. To be fair, barring Harrison herself, that may still be true, as the top 10 at UFC women's bantamweight isn't exactly the most convincible list of fighters.
Nevertheless, 'The Lioness' lost, and though she lost, the bigger loser is the division itself.
Normally, a fighter beating Nunes would be good because it means that the division has finally moved on from her and the new champion won't be regarded as a paper champion who never dethroned the 'real' champion. So, the belt feels earned and it frees any future champions from still being under Nunes' shadow. This was part of the initial excitement surrounding Julianna PeƱa's historic win over 'The Lioness' back at UFC 269. Unfortunately, she failed to defend the title, losing it to Nunes in an immediate rematch at UFC 277. However, in Harrison's case, the problem is that there will be no rematch at 135 pounds, so there isn't even an opportunity for her to beat Nunes again to fully cement her title reign, because Harrison can no longer endure the cut to women's bantamweight.
The rematch, if it ever happens, would have to be at women's featherweight, which no longer exists. Dana White, however, claims he's open to the idea of a rematch at 145 pounds, but nothing is confirmed. The only known outcome here is that Harrison likely retires if she must continue fighting at women's bantamweight. She said so herself before the fight, and hinted at it afterward. This will have a negative impact on the division. The division was already struggling to escape from under Nunes' shadow before UFC 334. Before Harrison had won the belt last year, every other champion had lost to Nunes, so even Harrison herself needed to legitimize her title reign by beating 'The Lioness.' Now that she has, she's gone, with no future fights planned for 135 pounds.
If Harrison retires, her shadow will now loom large over the division. Not only has she beaten the WMMA GOAT, but it would leave the winner of the eventual vacant title looking like a paper champion, like someone with no way to legitimize herself because Harrison never lost the belt in a fight, and she's beaten the last two champions in the division. It would be similar to Daniel Cormier's past struggles as the light heavyweight champion. No matter how many title defenses he racked up, his legacy at 205 was constantly dismissed because he had lost to Jon Jones, who people considered the 'real' champion. That could reoccur if either Nunes or an absent PeƱa reclaim the title in the post-Harrison era.
Even if someone new does win, the fact that they've never faced and beaten Harrison will be held against them and the rest of the division, unless, of course, Nunes sticks around and this new hypothetical champion beats her even more impressively than Harrison did. That's a tall order itself, because Nunes, despite her bizarre gameplan, still looked like herself at UFC 334, which is still enough in a division with fighters like Chelsea Chandler, Yana Santos, AilĆn PĆ©rez, and Luana Santos, with Norma Dumont now gone. Too many UFC women's bantamweights either clinch, score takedowns and just lay on their opponents with zero offense, or shadow box on the outside.
Only Joselyne Edwards and Bia Mesquita spark some excitement, and that just isn't enough. There's a very strong possibility that UFC 334 was Harrison's last fight at women's bantamweight. It's also hard to imagine Nunes sticking around, despite her previous claim of wanting to fight more. With both women gone, there just aren't any interesting fights in the division anymore, barring a Valentina Shevchenko return to 135 pounds, but she's already 38 years old, so even if she wins the title, she won't be around for long, and she already has two losses to Nunes, who just lost to Harrison.
The future, it seems, is bleak.
